In this post I’ll talk a bit about the video about professions. If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably just want to do the first part of the video, which simply presents the Arabic words for ten different professions. If you are more advanced, you will also want to work through the second half, which quizzes you using a series of questions like “Who protects citizens’ safety?” (answer: a policeman) and “Who fights fire?” (answer: a fireman).

The title of this video is:

تَعَلَّم الْمِهَن بِالْلُّغَة الْعَرَبِيَّة

taʕallam il-mihan bi l-lugha l-ʕarabiyya

‘Learn the occupations in Arabic.’

The word مهنmihan ‘occupations’ in this phrase is the plural of the word مهنmihna ‘occupation’.

Since many of the readers here will be beginners, let’s start with the meat of the matter, which is the words for the professions introduced. After that, I will present other elements, such as the introduction and the quiz.

The occupations

Here are the ten words for occupations presented:

رائِد فَضاء

شُرْطِيّ

طَبيب

raa’id faḍaa’

shurṭiyy

ṭabiib

‘astronaut’

‘policeman’

‘doctor’

رَجُل إِفْطاء

خَبّاز

فَلّاح

rajul ’ifṭaa’

khabbaaz

fallaaḥ

‘fireman’

‘baker’

‘farmer, peasant’

جَزّار

طَيَّار

مُعَلِّم

ساعي الْبَريد

jazzaar

ṭayyaar

muʕallim

saaʕii l-bariid

‘butcher’

‘airplane pilot’

‘teacher’

‘postman, mailman’

Just a few notes are in order:

The word used here for ‘teacher’ is معلّمmuʕallim. You may know a different word for this: مدرّسmudarris. Both words are correct, and they mean the same thing.

Note that the word طيّارṭayyaar ‘pilot’ is related to طائرةṭaa’ira ‘airplane’.

Note that the word خبّازkhabbaaz ‘baker’ is related to خبزkhubz ‘bread’.

The quiz

More advanced learners will also want to work through the quiz portion of the video, which uses ten complete questions that describe the professions. The narrator invites you to participate by saying:

اِلْعَبْ مَعَنا الآن!

’ilʕab maʕa-naa l-’aan!

‘Are you ready? Let’s start.’

All of the questions start with من الذي…man illadhii… ‘Who is the one who…’, which can be thought of as short for من الشخص الذي…man ish-shakhṣ illadhii… ‘Who is the person who….’ This is a common way of forming subject questions. Here is a simple example:

مَن الَّذي يَتَكَلَّم؟

man illadhii yajakallam?

‘Who is speaking?’ (literally: Who is the one who is speaking?)

After each question, the narrator will offer a word of encouragement, which will be one of the following:

بِالْفِعْل!

نَعَمْ!

مُمْتاز!

جَيِّد!

أَحْسَنْت!

bi l-fiʕl!

naʕam!

mumtaaz!

jayyid!

’aḥsant!

‘Indeed!’

‘Yes!’

‘Excellent!’

‘Good!’

‘You are right!’

The ten questions are listed below. The transliteration has been omitted, as it is assumed that if you’re advanced enough to work through this part, you are able to read Arabic script fairly well. (And, of course, you also have the video for the pronunciation.)